Local people in northern Dien Bien province have expressed grief over the death of national genius General Vo Nguyen Giap who died on October 4 at the age of 102.
Local people in northern Dien Bien province have expressed grief over the death of national genius General Vo Nguyen Giap who died on October 4 at the age of 102.
 |
| General Vo Nguyen Giap, Lieutenant General Dong Sy Nguyen, and commissar Dang Tin (rightmost) at another shack in the forest situated along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. |
People in Dien Bien consider General Giap as their father, said head of Muong Phang village Lo Van Uong, adding that they are indebted to General Giap for not only freeing them from French colonists but helping them in the poverty reduction process as well.
Located northeast of the city of Dien Bien Phu, Muong Phang is home to the historical relic site of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign Headquarters.
For people in Dien Bien, Uong said, General Vo Nguyen Giap has for a long time been their “ guardian” who organized the army that ended more than 70 years of French colonial rule in Indochina, dealing a humiliating defeat to a French garrison in a 55-day siege of the mountain –ringed outpost at Dien Bien Phu.
On the early morning of October 5, Muong Phang villagers gathered at the chief village’s house to pay respects to their “guardian”.
100-year-old woman Lu Thi Doi, holding firmly the picture of General Giap in her hand, recalled her working times with General Giap. She said General Giap had given her instructions on how to persuade Dien Bien’s ethnic groups to help in the Dien Bien Phu campaign, which ended successfully on May 7, 1945.
General Giap always paid attention to the improvement of living conditions for ethnic people in the area, the Muong Phang village chief said, adding that General Giap and his family helped villagers to build schools for children.
The late General personally made great efforts to help local people have the Loong Luong irrigation reservoir, locals said.
Thanks to President Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap, local people now have schools, hospitals and convenient roads, said 80-year-old Mua A Sau, another local man.
Sau said he and other residents wish General Giap could be with them at the 60th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu victory in 2014. “Now we understand that our wish could never come true.”
(Source:TTNews)
